Enticed Headlines Wood Memorial

[Wandering Eyes]

Enticed (Medaglia d’Oro), a smart winner of the GIII Gotham S. Mar. 10, returns to the Big A as the horse to beat for Saturday’s GII Wood Memorial S.

The son of MGISW It’s Tricky (Mineshaft) made up for a puzzling fourth as the favorite in the GII Holy Bull S. with a 2 3/4-length tally over Old Time Revival (Brethren) in the one-turn mile Gotham. Last year’s GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. hero, the 6-5 choice on the Wood Memorial morning-line, stretches out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time here.

“We’re happy with him and we’re there trying to win an important race,” said trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who captured this race with Frosted in 2015. “Even if it doesn’t have Grade I status, we feel like it is a Grade I. It’s a huge race for a horse in his career, especially for a stallion prospect.”

Bob Baffert ships in Restoring Hope (Giant’s Causeway) following a good-looking restricted maiden win with blinkers off going 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita at third asking Feb. 2. The Hall of Famer took the New York route to Louisville with previous Wood Memorial winners Congaree (2001) and Bob and John (2006).

“We’ve always been very high on him and he worked really well the other day so I thought we’d take a shot,” Baffert said. “We’re like everybody else, we’re trying to see if he fits. We took the blinkers off and he came back and ran well [last time out]. Now, he’s training like a good horse, so that’s why he’s there.”

Vino Rosso (Curlin), perfect in two starts at two including a debut win in South Ozone Park, followed a third-place finish in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Feb. 10 with a lackluster fourth with blinkers added in the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby last time Mar. 10.

“He’s a horse that’s trained very well all winter and in company with some very good horses that have gone on to be successful,” four-time Wood Memorial-winning trainer Todd Pletcher said. “So, we’ve been a little frustrated with his races this year. We’re excited to get him back to Aqueduct. It’s where he broke his maiden and stretching out to a mile and an eighth is going to allow him to show his true ability.”

With 170 total qualifying points for the GI Kentucky Derby up for grabs, the Wood is worth 100 points to the winner, 40 points to second, 20 to third and 10 to fourth.

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